When I was a bit younger, I would sometimes try to read and use an ordinary deck of playing cards as a substitute to a Tarot deck, but then I had no knowledge that it was a valid supposition.
Yes, ordinary playing cards can be definitely used as somewhat as a substitute to a tarot deck. After all, Tarot cards have their origins traced to ordinary cards. Right now, Tarot cards are essentially equivalent to ordinary playing cards, except that ordinary playing cards do not have the major arcana.
A seasoned Tarot reader will tell you that the fortunes communicated by playing-card cartomancy are equivalent to those of the minor arcana.
As a brief guide, the suit of Hearts in playing cards correspond to the Cups of the Tarot, emphasizing their femininity and comfort. Meanwhile, the Diamonds correspond to the Coins, which mean materialism and clarity. The Spades are equivalent to the Swords, which tell us about wisdom and warnings. Finally, the Clubs correspond to the Wands, which mean creativity and personal initiative.
Each of the members of these playing-card suits are then converted directly to their Tarot equivalents. For example, the Two of Hearts translate to the Two of Cups, the Five of Clubs convert to the Five of Wands, and so on. The Knight, Queen, and Jack of each playing-card suit also convert to the King, Queen, and Knight of their respective Tarot equivalents. Note that the Page of the minor arcana does not have any direct equivalent in playing-card cartomancy.
The Joker is considered to be the only card in ordinary playing cards that has an equivalent in the major arcana, namely The Fool card. If the deck has two Jokers in it, you can mark one of them as The World. Now here is some sort of guide that you can use to check the meaning of each and every playing card.
Divination through playing-card cartomancy has been in play for a long time already. Despite the absence of the major arcana, proper reading of ordinary playing cards can still bring about satisfying results. Happy reading!
